Watch-carrying device.



v B.R,JOLLY. WATCH CARRYING DEVICE.

APPLICATlON FILED DEC.12, 1913.

1,165,262.. Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

Z SHEETSSHEET l.

Z6 24 mcawmcq 30 3/ 4, i Q b n' u wmm/bo a COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

B. R. JOLLY.

WATCH CARRYING DEVICE. AFPLiCATlON FILED DEC. 12, 1913.

Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- gwue/wbo z. fieiyzuzrfi $163. WWW/9 V F I v 4 I I9 I I I. I

coLuMmA PLAN vices,

BENJAMIN R. JOLLY, 0F RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA.

WATCH-CARRYING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

Application filed December 12, 1913. Serial No. 806,273.

To (ZZZ "whom it may concern Be it known that L'BENJAMIN R. JOLLY, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Raleigh, county of Wake, State-of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VVatch-Carrying Deof which the following isa speoification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates particularly to that type of watch holding device adapted to be attached to the wrist of the wearer. It has for its principal object the attainment of maximum security of position for the'article held without detracting'from the requisite ornamental appearance of the article or the holder. I

It has also been my aim to enhance the ornamental design and this has been done without sacrifice of theefiiciency of the dev1ce.

Subsidiary objects have been simplicity, lightness, adj ustability and low cost of manufacture. 7

All. of'these objects have been attained.

Broadly speaking my watchholder comprises a base portion against which the back of'a watch may be seated, upwardly extending prongs arranged to hold the watch between them and against the base, together with means for fastening the holder to the person or the wearer.

' Speaking more specifically, my invention comprises a watch holder composed of strip material bent to form a star-shaped figure the points of which are bent upwardly and inwardly to receive and hold a watch between them and against the body portion of the figure, and strap or chain fastening means connected with opposite points of the figure and comprising two connected series of parts of a twopart fastener, the one series being composed of flexibly connected similar parts and the other series being composed of flexibly connected complementary parts arranged to register with the aforesaid parts when the ends of the strap are over-lapped and to be fastened together.

Additional features there are which will appear fully from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings I 7 show only the several forms of my invention now best known to me, but I desire tohave it understood at the outset that my invention may be given many forms by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit thereof and in the annexed claims hereto I intend to cover all such forms.

Figure l is a top plan view of my invention in extended position, Fig. 2 is an end View of the same as it would appear on the wrist of the wearer, a supported watch being shown in position, Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modification in extended position, Fig. 4 is a modified form of the holder per .96, Figs. 5 and 6 are a side elevation and plan respectively of an adjusting tool for adjusting the size of the holder to suit the size of the watch, Fig. 7 is a view of still another modification in which the fastening means takes the form of a metal chain, Fig. 8 is a similar view of a still further modification, Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate details-of certain of the oints of Figs. 7 and 8, being sections on lines 10-10 and 11--11. Figs. 11 and 12 show two further modifications by plan view.

Like numerals refer to like parts in all the figures.

The watch holder proper is designated 10, while the connected fastening means or wrist strap is designated 11.

Speaking first of the holder, and referring particularly to Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 7, it will be seen that the holder is composed of resilient strip material bent or stamped of sheet-metal to form a star-shaped closed This figure may also be formed of wire, there being a wide choice of material. The points or corners 12 thereof are bent upwardly and inwardly from the base or body portion 13 to form spring prongs arranged to hold the watch 14: between them and against the base portion 13. The curvature of the upwardly and inwardly bent prongs 12 is such that they fit accurately the edges of the average watch, and preferably the strip material is of such nature that the prongs 12 may be bent to conform to the edges of any of the standard watches. Thus the material combines resiliency and pliability. Preferably the figure of the holder 10 is regular in form, and the prongs 12 are substantially diametrically opposite as shown, but variation from this may be had if desired. The regular form has considerable advantage in that when strain is put upon any two substantially opposite prongs tending to draw them apart, and thereby free the watch, those substantially on a diameter at right angles thereto are at the of the device 1 removed. i

Referring more particularly to the form me time drawn toward each other whereby the watch is still more tightlyclamped, It

is therefore practically impossibleunder ordinary conditions of use for accidental re moval or dislodgmeiit .of thewatchto take place. It is only by careful prying ,back 'of one prong at a time that the watch may be of-Figsf 1, 2 and 8,'the strip fastener 11 connected with the holder is composed of laminated flexible material. The-center )ortion of the strap is enlar ed and be tween the lamina'tions at this point, the base portion 13 of the support is laid,,certain of the prongs 12 projecting up through apertures 15 in the outer lamination, while certain others project upwardly around the edges thereof. The opposite ends-of the strap are sewed on the edges, and up to a point closely adjacent the-support 10, the.

sewing being illustrated by the'dotted-lines along the edges and concentric with the support 10. Mounted on this'strap are two se ries of parts of a two part fastener, one series on each side ofthe support 10. One

, series comprises similar spaced stud members 16, aiid'the other series'similar complemental socket members 17, so arranged that when the two "ends of thestr ap are overlappedas shown in Fig. 2, the stud and socket members register and may be fastened together. The parts of the fastener in each'series are equidistant from each other, whereby the two ends offlthe strap may be over-lapped to anyde'sired extent and the parts fastened together, thereby forming a bracelet of any desired size.

In the use of this device, after the holder l0 has "been putin place as shown in Fig. 1,

. the strap 11' is pushed back upon one of I the prongs 12 suificiently to allow the branches of the prong to bespread apart to admit the stem 18 of the watch between them, whereupon the strap is pulled taut so that its central portion may lie fiat against thebase 13 of the holder 10, and the body of the watch is then carefully inserted between the prongs 12, use being preferably point between the prongs and an attempt ismade to move it, the greater the j strain;

placed upon it, the tighter the prongs 12 members 20 s the was. The only way in which the watch may be removedwithout theme of a disrupting force is by careful bending back 1 V and disengaging one prong at a time. It will be readily seen that this is something 'which. cannotbe done by accidentfor inhaste, but must be by deliberate act.

It .is my intention to manufacture the de vice with the holders 1,0 of several different sizes, and these several sizes will fit all standard watches. 1 Where there is variation in the size of, the watch, I intend to adjust j the holder 10 to size by spreading the V prongs 12 or retracting the same. In Figs.

5 and 6 I show a very efiicient toolwhich I have devised for this purpose. It comprises four angular channel bars '20 connected .to-

gether at the top by solder 21 or other suit able means and extending on diverginglines to form a pyramidal figure. These channel members 20 may be' integrally formed from sheet or blockjmetal ifdesired, instead of being'separately formed and soldered or a otherwise fastened togetherl In order -;to enlarge the holder 10, the holder is forced down over the top of the tool with the inner corners 22 0f the figure in the channels-of the bars 20, the corners .22 being thereby bent to enlarge the figure of the holder. The same tool when applied eXteriorly to the figure of the holder 10 instead of interi orly thereof, will serve to draw the corners-22r toward each other and to the center ofthe figure instead of to spread themapart; In this application the holder 7 10' is pushed down between the diverging: ends of the ends. 7

As clearly apparent, the form of Fig. 3

dilfersjfro-m Fig. 1 in that thecomplementary parts 17 of the fasteners are in the form of button holes instead of buttonc aps,

the buttons 16 inthismodification being inadeperhaps somewhat larger than the buttons or studs 16 in'Fig. 1, and shaped specially'to'coeperate with the buttonholes.

instead of over the converging In thefformof Fig. 7'the fastening-dc vice 11 comprising a chain, each link of which 23: on one side of the support 10 is provided with a stud member "'16 of a fassite side of'the member 10 is provided with a complemental socket member 17.: =When oyer-lapped these stud andfs'ocket members may be fastened together precisely as: in the. In I order to increase 7 the flexibility thereof 1 may provide lost case of Figs. 1 to a;

motion connections between the links'23 asshown clearly in. Fig. 10, The'cnd link of each series of fastener parts 16, 17 is connected by .a yoke 24 directly with the prong T12 of' the' support 10,-suitablesmall lugs '25 being integrallyformed with or attached to the prong in each case at '1 or near-its base; 'The support 10 is a four 'tener, and-each link of whic h-on the'oppm that portion of the lig' pronged support, the prongs 12 of which are diametrically opposite whereby when strain is placed upon the chain fastening 11, the prongs '12 in the line of the chain are drawn apart, 'andthe prongs at right angles thereto'are drawn together. In connection with this fastener as in connection with the fasteners ofl igs. 1 to 2-3, I provide complemental socket members 17 disassociated from the series 01'. the connected links, and which may be placed separately upon the one or two stud members 16 which are exposed after the bracelet has been adjusted to the size desired.

The form of Fig. 8 differs from the form of Fig. 7 primarily in the form of the support 10. The I A material instead of being bent to form a closed figure in this case is bent to [form an open figure, having one main pron 12 at the center of the strip and two additional prongs 12 on the opposite side thereojl, formed by turning upwardly and inwardly the ends of the strip itself. These prongs 12 are preferably interconnected by a tie member 26, to lugs or pintles of which the yoke 2st is connected; Of course in so far as the tie member 26 and re excluding prongs 12 are concerned, the figure is still a closed figure, the tie member being the connecting link. in this form also the lugs 25 on the prong 12 are clearly shown. The

' additional dill'erence is in the manner of connecting the links of the chain together. In Fig. 7 each link is provided at one end witlrlaterally spaced beads '27 in which is socketed a pin 28 passingthrough the ear 29 (see? 10) ofthe adjacent link, the opposite end of each link being provided with an ear But in Fig. 8 each link is provided at one end with a slotted tongue Z-iO'and at he other end with a tongue 31 passed through the slot in the tongue 30 of the succeeding link and turned over the edge thereof as shown in Fig. 11.

Still a third form of support is shown in Fig. -l in which thereare provided 8 prongs 12 instead of l.

(lbviously the fastening means 11 of my invention capable 01'? use indpendently oi? the watch support 10 as a bracelet, but I do not claim the same herein as it forms the subject matter of a separate application, Serial No. 49,7;3, filed September 9, 1915.

I show two other modifications in my invention in l 11 and 12. Accordingvto the modification of Fig. 11, thetwo halves of the bracelet chain olthe form of Figs. 7 and 8 are attached respectively directly to the opposite sides of the casing of the watch, thus iormi'ng a bracelet watch. There are such vatches on the market to-day, but none of them areequipped with the bracelet chain of my invention. Equipped with this chain, the adaptability of the device to wrists of various sizes and shapes is increased many times. In other devices, adjustment can only be secured in a very limited way or by cumbersome means, but through the use of my invention, there is permissible a number of adjustments limited only by the number oi links in the chain or the number of fasteners in the strap (if a strap be used), this adjustment being carried out in the act of fastening and additional overt act of adjustment being unnecessary in any case. The lengths of the two parts of the chain are substantially equal and each such that when fastened together about the wrist they each extend substantially entirely around the wrist of theaverage small size. When placed around wrists of larger sizes, they do not over-lap all the way around thewrist, but lack one or two links, upon which links are placed tne extra complemental fastener members. Once placed these'extra members are allowed to remain in position, so that the act of fastening is the same irrespective of whether the parts of the chain over-lap entirely around the wrist or not. These complemental members may either be fun nishedin. sets of a certain number with each chain, or they may be furnished in varying number, according to the size specified when the purchase is made, being snapped on at the time oi purchase by the jeweler.

The form of Fig. 12 shows my invention applied to the well known leather wrist strap holder. This type of holder includes a centrally disposed leather pocket P in which the watch is housed with its face exposed as is well known. The complemental halves of the strap are practically identical with those shown in Figs. 1, 2 and3. As heretofore stated, extra complementalsocket or button members are furnished with this form as well.

in concluding I desire to make it clear that the lost motion of the chain of Figs. 7 to and the flexibility of the strap are equivalents in their function, both acting to insure flexibility of the bracelet formed by the over-lapping parts. In their stead equivalent means of connection between the fastener elements may be used to the same end. such for instance as spring connections.

ll hat I claim is:

'1. A holder for a watch comprising a base portion provided with upwardly and inf-wardly turned spring prongs adapted to hold a watch between them. said prongs be 7 through the center of the'base, about which between them, in combination with carrying means :for the holder comprising terminal elements with cooperating connecting de vices and intermediate connections to oppothe -spring prongs are symmetrically arranged. 7

2. A. watch holder composed of strip material in the form of an angular figure, the corners of whichi are upwardly and inwardly turned and arranged to hold aWatch between them, in combination with carrying means for the holder comprising termi nal elements with cooperating connecting devices and intermediate connections to opsite sides of the holder, said terminal elements, and their points of connection to the holder extending in a line passing through i the center of the base, about which said corners are symmetrically arranged.

4. A watch holder composed of strip material'bent to form a closed figure comprising a'series of outwardly extending loops serially connected and'pro ecting in symmetrical relation from the central portion of the'figure, the outer ends of said loops being upwardly and inwardly turned to clasp and hold the watch between them.

5.- A watch holder composed of strip'ma- V terial bent toiform a symmetrical figure having serially connected radial loops, the points of which are upwardly and inwardlybent to hold the watch between them andagainst the body portion thereof, in combination with carrying means comprising-elements secured to'opposite prongs or loops of the holder, saidelements carrying cooperating fastening devices andadapted when fastened together to bring a'strain upon the loop member of the holder, whereby they will tend to con- ,rtractupon a watch'case.

6. A watch carrymg device composed of V strip material bentto form a star-shaped V inwardly bent to hold a watch between them 7 figure, the points of which are upwardly and and against the body portion'of the figure,

vand a wrist bracelet opposite portions of which are attached todiametrically opposite "up-turned pointsof said figure.

IA watchcarrying device comprising a substantially flat base 7 portion having upwardly and inwardly bent prongsconnected therewith and arranged to hold a watch between them and against the base, together with-a laminated wrist strap between the laminations of Which said base portion is laid with certain of its prongs projecting through apertures in the upper lamination,

whereby the backiofthe watch rests against V the outer lamination of the strap.

8. A watch carrying device comprising a base portion having'upstanding prongs arranged to hold a watch between them and against said base, a laminated wrist strap] 7 between the laminations of which said base is laid with its prongs projecting through;

apertures in the exterior laminations, and

means securing the laminations together at' points removed from the base portion of said holder. a

9. A device of the class described compris ing a'watch, and two complemental series of flexible connecting fasteningparts connected therewith and extending from opposite composed of fastener parts all alike, and spaced apart'at equal intervals, and the series on the other side consisting of correspond ing complemental fastener parts so arranged 7 sides thereof, the series on one side'being that when one series is overlapped on the other, the fastener parts of the two series will properly engage throughout, without re-' spect to the length of the overlap, and thus secure the watch;

10. A device of the, class described comf V prising a watch, and'two complemental series of flexibly connected fastenerpartscon V nected therewith and extending from "opposite sides thereof, said series being of approximately the same length, which length is substantially sufiicient to extend around the entire wrist when the device is in use, one of said series comprising similar fastener parts, and the other similarly spaced complemental fastener parts, whereby when overlappedthe parts of the fasteners register and may be snapped together.

11. A device of the class described comformed in'two connected series, one;series extending from each side of said watch, the

, prising a watch, and a bracelet chain con-' i nected therewith, the links of which are links jofone series comprising similar coni nected parts of' a two part fastener and those of the other series connected complemental parts of the same, some of said linkshavinga lost motion connection with each other, whereby when over-lapped the two series of. parts register and may be fastened togetherto form aclosed bracelet itself hav ing flexibility. V

12. A watch holder composed of resilient strip material bent to form a star-shaped symmetrical figure, the points of which are upwardly andinwardly bent to hold a watch between them and against the body portion thereof, each point'of the figure'constituting abow spring drawing togetherthe adjoining loops: I

13. In combination, a watch holder ha- 7 ing claw-shaped radial prongs, and a carrying device comprising oppositely extending In testimony whereof I aflix my signature inelnllbers securfd todopppgsite prongs 3f the in presence of tWo Witnesses.

10 c er and a a te to e overla e and T adj ustably secur d together at their gxtremi- BENJAMIA JOLLY ties, whereby Watches inholders of different Witnesses:

sizes may be secured by the same carrying 7 Roman H. DREW,

device to Wrists of different circumferences. HENRY S. LKRAMERR Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

